1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to clamping devices and, in particular, clamping devices adapted to hold articles which have irregularities that can be compensated for by the clamp.
2. Prior Art Clamps designed for glueing pieces of wood to form larger sections require that each of the several pieces of wood is aligned by a plurality of parallel coacting clamping members connected to a main frame. When the desired size of the section is achieved, each of the clamping members is then tightened to hold the pieces until the glue has set.
Many clamping devices have several sets of coacting clamping members attached to an endless carrier so that glued sections can be stored while the glue is setting and then removed from the clamping device systematically.
Each of the clamping members includes a pair of jaws between which the pieces of wood are laid. While one jaw of each individual clamping member is adjustable, the individual clamping members are normally maintained in fixed relationship to each other. If any of the pieces of stock are not uniform, the composite piece will be irregular, with front and rear edges not necessarily straight or parallel. Therefore, the jaws of the individual clamping members will not contact the edges of the work-piece with equal or even force. This results in non-uniform stress in the irregular section with consequent poor glueing results.